


Arkytior and Rose

by ofstormsandwolves



Series: Blonde Space Babes [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode AU: s03e08-09 Human Nature/Family of Blood, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 11:11:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11531004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofstormsandwolves/pseuds/ofstormsandwolves
Summary: On the run from the Family of Blood, Rose and the Doctor must hide. But Rose is less than thrilled with their chosen destination, or their cover story... AKA the 13 x Rose Human Nature/Family of Blood AU that approximately 2 people on tumblr made me write.





	Arkytior and Rose

“I’ll bloody kill you,” Rose Tyler muttered under her breath as she propped the unconscious woman up in a sitting position against a tree.

Eight hours ago, they’d been enjoying a nice (relaxing) day out. Four hours ago, they were chased by creatures intent on capturing them and wanting their bodies. Well, one body in particular.

Rose huffed out a sigh and stared down at the unconscious Time Lady at her feet. The Doctor was still out for the count, the bumpy journey of having been hauled from the TARDIS and across twenty feet of woodland to be dumped against a tree apparently not even causing her to stir. Her blonde hair was still messy, and her clothes- period appropriate, supplied by the TARDIS, and giving Rose the sneaking impression they were stranded in the Edwardian period- not quite neat and tidy. But hey, Rose had done a pretty good job dressing the slightly taller woman considering said woman was completely unconscious at the time.

The day had been going so well, until they’d been attacked. The Family of Blood, the Doctor had called them as she’d dragged Rose back towards the TARDIS, their legs pumping as they ran as fast as they could. Upon reaching the relative safety of the inside of the TARDIS, the Doctor had demanded to know if they’d seen Rose’s face, before sending the TARDIS spinning into the Vortex. It had soon become apparent, though, that the Family were able to follow them, and Rose was fairly certain that the terrified look that had crossed the Doctor’s face would haunt her in her dreams for weeks.

And then the Doctor had done something stupid. Monumentally stupid. In all the years Rose had known the Doctor, a lot of stupid decisions had been made. But this one, this one had to top them all.

The Doctor had turned herself human.

She’d used some sort of Chameleon Arch, had hidden her Time Lady self inside a fob watch that Rose was to keep safe. The Doctor had stressed that a lot, and Rose had been mildly insulted that the Doctor thought that she might accidentally misplace her bondmate whilst trapped in a fob watch.

( _“This watch, Rose, this watch is me, ok? You have to keep it safe, love. Please.”_

 _“Doctor, I’ve been married and bonded to you for nearly six years, I’m not gonna accidentally lose ya while you’re inside a watch!”_ )

And now, now Rose was stood alone at the edge of woodland with an unconscious wife, a large trunk, and nowhere to go.

Yeah, she was gonna kill the Doctor when she woke up.

~0~0~

As Rose took in the small twin room they’d been given, her heart sank. She’d known it would be an adjustment, she’d known that- given the clothes the TARDIS had provided them with- they were in an era where they couldn’t just walk in and go ‘hi, we’re married to each other!’ without at least one delicate lady swooning and half a dozen moustached men spluttering a ‘well I never!’. 

But she hadn’t expected their cover story to be quite so bad.

Alright, it could have been worse, Rose reasoned, and as she took in the Doctor’s smiling face she found that she was at least relieved they hadn’t been separated. But they’d let the TARDIS deal with all the paperwork and stuff, and the Doctor had said that the TARDIS would integrate them with everyday life, provide everything they’d need. Then she’d activated the Chameleon Arch, and started screaming, and there hadn’t been much time for Rose to ask any questions.

By the time the Doctor’s screaming had stopped and Rose had shakily released her from the Arch, the Time Lady was unconscious and unable to answer her questions anyway. Rose had changed the pair of them into the clothes laid out by the TARDIS, gathered the large trunk the ship had provided, and hauled her wife from the ship.

Now, she was beginning to wish she’d questioned the TARDIS on their cover story. The ship had, as the Doctor had promised, integrated them with everyday life in the sleepy village of Farringham, including providing jobs and accommodation for them at the nearby all-boys boarding school. That was all fine. What was less fine was that the TARDIS had decided that the Doctor and Rose would be sisters.

Best friends, Rose could have coped with. Best friends would have been fine. She’d been best friends with her first Doctor, and for several years with her second Doctor before they finally took the plunge and furthered their relationship. But then they’d bonded and married, while he was still all pinstripe suits and wild hair, and while they were still best friends they were also something more. But she could have coped.

Sisters, though. ‘Sisters’ was a bit much. Admittedly, they looked similar now, though that was mostly the hair. The Doctor was still that little bit taller than Rose, and she found she quite liked that, having a taller wife. And facially, they didn’t really look similar at all. Maybe a little in the jaw line, but that was it. And yet, somehow, the TARDIS had thought that would be the best cover story.

It was, Rose reminded herself again as the Doctor tested out one of the twin beds in the bedroom they’d share at Farringham School for Boys, preferable to being split up. It would mean she’d be able to keep a close eye on the Doctor, make sure she didn’t do something too stupid while in a human body. But it would also be difficult, Rose knew; being so close to her bondmate yet unable to be too intimate. Even as sisters there would be boundaries. 

“Are you alright? Rose?”

The Doctor’s voice interrupted her thoughts then, and Rose forced a smile, realising she’d been standing in the middle of the room just sort of... Staring.

“Yeah,” she responded, finding her voice. “‘M fine.”

The Doctor’s eyes narrowed a little at that, tilting her head to one side as she studied Rose carefully. It was an entirely un-Doctor-like movement, and the realisation jolted through Rose like a cold bucket of water being dumped on her head. She wasn’t looking at the Doctor. She was looking at her human counterpart.

What name had the TARDIS given her? Arkytior?

She’d have to have words with that ship, Rose knew. How was the name Arkytior Tyler going to help the Doctor blend in?

With a strained smile, Rose made her way over to the trunk and started unpacking their things.

~0~0~

Nearly a month later, Rose Tyler was very bored. With nothing to do in the tiny village of Farringham, and no sign of the Family showing up, Rose was spending much of her time either listlessly staring out of the window, or doodling in a sketchbook the TARDIS had provided for her. Her job at the school wasn’t even very exciting; she was a librarian, and aside from helping the boys occasionally find books so they could do research or finish their homework, there wasn’t much to do. 

The Doctor- Arkytior- had apparently been hired as the school’s new Matron, and Rose had almost choked on her tea when she’d discovered that. But her currently-human wife had just given her an odd look, and clearly the TARDIS had provided false memories of medical school in her mind.

It wasn’t that the Doctor wasn’t qualified as an actual medical doctor. No, Rose had found out years ago that she’d obtained an actual medical degree from a university in Glasgow several regenerations ago. What had surprised Rose more was that the job would essentially involve the Doctor sitting around for hours at a time.

Even in her current body, the Doctor wasn’t one for sitting still. And seeing as the job of Matron meant she had to be near the infirmary at all times in case one of the school’s many pupils was taken ill, Rose couldn’t see Arkytior liking the job very much. She’d expected her to get bored very quickly, to spend evenings complaining of how she was cooped up in the infirmary all day, and “don’t you get bored in the library, Rose?”

But instead, Arkytior had taken to the job like a duck to water, and it was Rose herself who was going a little stir-crazy.

But then, who wouldn’t go stir-crazy after nearly four weeks of sitting in a musty library with nothing to do and your bondmate thinking she was your sister?  
And the evenings were, somehow, worse. All Arkytior spoke about was the boys who had come through the infirmary that day. None of it was ever very interesting, and it just made Rose long for the three months they apparently had to wait to speed by so they could return to the TARDIS.  


( _“The Family are like mayflies,” the Doctor had explained as she clipped the fob watch into the Chameleon Arch. “Three months and they die. We just need to hide for three months, love, that’s all.” She flashed Rose a grin. “Easy.”_

 _Rose swallowed. “Easy,” she echoed._ )

On the plus side, Rose mused, she’d got a lot of drawings done.

~0~0~

( _The Doctor had left Rose a video of instructions on how to keep her safe while they were in 1913. Rose had rolled her eyes at first, finding it a little ridiculous (and a little hurtful) that her wife and bondmate thought she needed a list to keep her safe._

_“Number 1,” the Doctor had said with a grin, and Rose’s heart ached at the sight of it. She missed her wife. “Try and keep me from interfering too much with whatever’s going on where we land. The TARDIS shouldn’t land us anywhere too near any major historical events, but it might be better to keep me away from them just in case. Number 2, the TARDIS will create a cover story for us, and no matter how difficult it is, I need you to stick to it. I know it will be difficult, and I promise I’ll make it up to you once the three months is up and I’m me again. But please, Rose, if this is the only time you listen to me, stick to the cover story.”_

_Rose had rolled her eyes at that statement. “Like I’d do anythin’ to put you in danger,” she’d muttered under her breath, even though there was no one to hear her words._

_“Number three,” the Doctor on the little monitor was saying, “do try and visit the TARDIS when possible. We don’t want our girl getting lonely, do we? She knows you won’t be able to visit too often, and I’ll mostly power her down anyway so the Family can’t detect her, but if we leave her too long she might get in a bit of a mood with us.”_

_Rose had fast-forwarded the video then. She’d seen it a couple of times already, and most of it was the Doctor rambling anyway. Then, finally, she was at the last point._

_“And remember, Rose. Whatever happens, whatever our cover story is, and whatever our relationship is, remember this: I love you.”_

_Rose had sniffed, grabbed her shawl from the jump seat and fled the TARDIS._ )

~0~0~

“Have I upset you?”

Rose looked up with a frown at the words, dropping her pencil back onto her sketchbook. “No, why?”

Across the room, Arkytior shrugged. “You seem distant. I could not help but wonder if I’d said something to upset you.” There was a long pause. “Do you miss mum? Is that it?”

Rose blinked. It had been odd, the first time Arkytior had mentioned Jackie, who was still safely in her flat on the Powell Estate a century in the future, because Arkytior was certain that Jackie was her mum as well as Rose’s. Well, she would, Rose had reasoned. Because Arkytior thought they were sisters. Jackie would have a field day when she found out.

“It’s not that,” Rose spoke truthfully after a moment. “I just... It doesn’t feel like there’s much for me to do here.”

Arkytior quirked an eyebrow at her, then tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, considering Rose’s words. “I’m sorry, I should have asked before putting you forward for the librarian job,” she said at last. “I just thought that it would interest you. You’d been saying you wanted to move out from Mum’s, and when they mentioned they were also looking to hire a librarian, I thought you’d like the job. You do like reading.”

It was true, Rose knew. Ever since she’d met the Doctor, she’d become much more of a reader. She’d read books as a child, of course, but that had sort of fizzled out in her teens; she’d much rather have gone shopping with friends, or gone out with boys like Mickey, or Jimmy Stone. Reading hadn’t been much on her radar, unless they were gossip magazines. But since moving into the TARDIS, with its vast library and extensive selection of books, she’d fallen into the habit of reading whenever she got the chance.

“I know,” Rose replied. “But when the boys are in lessons, there isn’t much for me to do in the library. I mostly just draw.” She held up her sketchbook. “I’ve almost filled this now.”

Arkytior grinned then, and held out her hand for the book. “Let’s see!” she said happily. “Go on!”

Somewhat reluctantly, Rose got off her bed and crossed the small expanse of floor to relinquish the book to Arkytior. She watched as the other woman flipped through pages, looking at various sketches Rose had done. Some were of some of the boys who came to study in the library, some were of the flowers she’d gathered and put in a vase in the library to try and brighten up her desk somewhat, and some were meaningless doodles.

But her heart leapt as Arkytior came across a section from a few weeks back. They were drawings of their adventures, some more recent than others, and the pages were littered with crude sketches of Daleks, Cybermen, the Moxx of Balhoon, Slitheen, Silurians. And then there were other drawings; of the TARDIS, both inside and out; of the Doctor in the first face where Rose knew him, all cropped hair and leather; of her second Doctor, all wild hair and a big grin and a slightly skewed tie; of her third Doctor, with floppy hair and a bow tie and a youthful face; of her Doctor before the one sat in front of her, white hair and a scowl, but a twinkle in his eye.

And of her current Doctor, blonde hair messed from sleep as she stared at some invisible object to her left.

“Wow,” Arkytior said softly after a long silence. She looked up at Rose and grinned. “Quite the imagination you’ve got, sis.”

Rose forced a tight-lipped smile at that, not really knowing what to say.

“Just drawings,” she managed after a moment. “Most of it’s impossible, really.”

_Impossible that you don’t remember it, more like._

“Your journal of impossible things, then?” Arkytior asked with a smile, closing the sketchbook and handing it back to Rose. 

Rose’s breath caught in her throat. “Yeah.”

~0~0~

( _Rose had stomped into the TARDIS, glaring up at the time rotor with a look of disdain._

_“You had to make us sisters, didn’t you? And you had to land us in 1913! God, I’d take anything over this! Why couldn’t you have landed us somewhere where we could still be married?!”_

_There had been no response from the time ship, but it hadn’t detered Rose._

_“You’re a girl! You’re meant to be on our side! What about ‘all girls together’, eh? Or have you not heard of that? Of all the stories, of all the places in the universe, why did you pick a place where we couldn’t be married? Is it not enough for our bond to be suppressed? No? You thought you’d go the whole way and make my wife even forget we’re married? Is that it?”_

_Rose had slumped down on the floor then, back against the console, and she’d heaved out a sigh. She was exhausted._

_“I just... I miss her. An’ I know it’s stupid, because she’s right there... I mean, I know you must miss her too, but we’re halfway through now.” She rubbed the console behind her head. “I want my wife back.”_ )

~0~0~

For three nights in a row, Rose slept with the fob watch clasped in her hands, the gentle murmuring of her bondmate penetrating the casing and easing the strain of the bond just that little bit. Nearly two months of being a librarian in 1913, nearly two months without a kiss or a cuddle from her wife. 

Only another month to go.

~0~0~

Of course they’d be bloody found. Of course they bloody would. When did the Doctor’s plans ever actually work?

Rose grumbled under her breath as she half-dragged a protesting Arkytior through the woodland. The Family had found them, crash-landing in a field outside the village and proceeding to take over several locals, including a little girl, and the maid who usually served Rose and Arkytior their breakfast. Jenny, her name had been. She’d been nice.

She’d died because of Rose.

The strain on the bond had been too much, the way their bond had been compressed and squeezed while the Doctor’s consciousness was trapped in the fob watch had made Rose feel sick, and in the end it had all been too much. She’d opened the watch. It had only been for a second, before she regretted her decision and slammed it shut, but apparently it was enough for the Family to get a trace, to track them down.

And now they were going to die too, if Rose didn’t convince the Doctor to open the fob watch.

“But the school,” Arkytior was protesting, wide-eyed. “Those boys, Rose, we can’t just leave them!”

“We don’t have time for this!” Rose snapped back, shooting a look at Arkytior before continuing through the woods.

She had no idea where they were going, the Family had found the TARDIS and surrounded it, but there had to be somewhere for them to hide, somewhere safe...

There was a crash, and an explosion, and Rose’s heart began to hammer in her chest. No, no, no...

“They’re bombing the village,” she gasped out, wide-eyed as she stared towards the village they’d just vacated. Already smoke was rising into the chilly night air.

“Who are they?” Arkytior demanded. “Why do they want us?”

“They don’t want us,” Rose responded, and the whole thing felt strange, like an out-of-body experience. She was aware she was speaking but she felt a million miles away. “They want... They want you.”

Arkytior gaped. “Me? What for? I’m a school nurse, why would they want me?”

Rose closed her eyes for a moment, breathed deeply, tried to regain control.

“Those drawings,” she began at last, “the drawings you thought were of impossible things, they’re not. They’re real, all of them. All those creatures, all those places, all those people...” She took another breath, steeling herself. “You’re not... You’re not human. And you’re not my sister.”

Arkytior’s eyes had gone wide, and they were damp, Rose realised. _Oh, don’t cry..._

“Why are you saying that?” Arkytior asked then, voice soft in the darkness of the night. “Why would you... If you don’t want to be here, Rose, then leave. But don’t do this, don’t lie to me, or make up some silly story. If you want to leave, I’m not keeping you here.”

“Oh love,” Rose sighed then, and she moved towards Arkytior, hand out to cup her cheek. The woodland around them was still, but the sound of more bombing of the village was still audible in the distance. “I’m not leaving you. I’m not. But it’s time for you to wake up.”

Rose fumbled for the pocket watch she’d stowed in her bag then, pressing it into Arkytior’s hand. The taller woman just blinked at it.

“Rose?”

“Open it,” Rose coaxed gently. “Go on. Don’t be scared.”

But the other woman didn’t move. “Rose, this is ridiculous. The village is in danger, they need my help, and you’ve dragged me into the woods to play some silly game!”

“I’m not,” Rose protested then, letting out a frustrated sigh. “Just, for once, listen to me. You’re not human, you’re not my sister, your name’s not even Arkytior.” She let out a bitter laugh at that. “An’ I’ll be havin’ words with the TARDIS about that once we get back. I mean, Arkytior? Seriously. I thought it was weird at first, but then when I was visiting the TARDIS I found out what it meant. It’s bloody Gallifreyan! For rose! You idiot, did you really think that was a good name? ‘Hello, I’m Rose Tyler and this is my sister Rose Tyler’!”

Arkytior blinked. “What’s a TARDIS?”

Rose let out a growl then. “The blue box! I told you all this, when we saw that the Family had it. That blue box, from my drawings. It’s your spaceship, Doctor.”

There was a long pause, and then Arkytior raised her hand to Rose’s face. And pressed a hand against her forehead.

“What are you doing?” Rose sighed, folding her arms across her chest.

“You don’t feel feverish,” Arkytior murmured, more to herself than Rose. “But you must have come down with something. It’s the only explanation for your behaviour.”

Rose snorted. “Or maybe you could listen to me and open the watch!”

Arkytior examined the watch in her hand for several long moments before lifting her gaze to Rose. “What’s so important about me opening the watch?”

“Because that’s you!” Rose shouted then, and all the anger and nerves and frustration of the past two and a half months bubbled to the surface and spilled over. “The watch is you, Doctor! You’re not human, you’re a Time Lady, from Gallifrey. And you’re not my sister, you’re my bondmate and wife! And my mother is certainly not your mother, and if you ever mention this to her we’ll never hear the end of it!”

“But I remember it,” Arkytior frowned. “I remember growing up with you. Our mother, Jacqueline Tyler, raised us alone after our father died. We were born and raised in London, in poverty, and against all odds I still managed to study nursing. I’m no doctor, Rose, there’s no chance anyone from our station would become that, but I am a nurse. You worked in a shop for the longest time, and I hated it, because I could see how bored it made you, how your potential was being wasted. So when I was offered the job here, I put you up for the librarian vacancy. And we moved here together.”

Rose let out a slow breath, and wiped at the tears she hadn’t known were falling. “None of that’s true,” she said quietly. “It’s all made up, Doctor. The TARDIS fabricated that story to try and save your life, to hide you from the Family. But they’ve found us, and, and I don’t know what to do! You never said what to do if they found us, an’ it’s all my fault. They found us because I opened that bloody watch, because I hated how our bond was bein’ constricted, and I thought that it might help... I didn’t stop to think, I was _stupid_... And I miss you, alright? I miss my wife. So please, _please_ just trust me on this and open the watch!”

Arkytior studied Rose’s face for the longest time then, before finally taking a breath.

“Alright.”

~0~0~

“I could bloody kill you, you know.”

The Doctor, in response, pressed a kiss to Rose’s hair. “You won’t though. You love this body too much. Don’t want me regenerating again.”

“I don’t think I said anything about regeneration,” Rose grumbled against the Doctor’s shoulder.

They were tucked up in the media room in front of a roaring fire and half-watching By the Light of the Asteroid. The Doctor had suggested the library at first, but the mere mention of it had made Rose shudder, and she’d quickly insisted she’d been cooped up in a library a little too much the past few weeks for her taste. So they’d chosen the media room instead, curling themselves up together on a sofa and pulling a blanket over themselves.

“I’m sorry I put you through that,” the Doctor said suddenly after a lengthy silence. Her voice was soft, but it sounded impossibly loud in the quiet, dark room. “I didn’t stop to think what the Chameleon Arch would mean for our bond.”

Rose sniffed. “It wasn’t too bad,” she admitted after a few moments. “Not painful or anythin’. Just uncomfortable. And lonely.” She paused. “Is that what it was like for you, after the war?”

The Doctor didn’t respond, but she pulled Rose just that little bit closer.

“We got through it alright though, didn’t we?” the Doctor said after a few moments. “The Family’s dealt with, we’re back safe and sound on the TARDIS, and we managed to stop things before they got too bad.”

Rose hummed in response, remembering how the Doctor had stopped the Family.  


( _“What’re you gonna do?” Rose asked, watching as the Doctor brushed her dress down and began setting off back towards the village._

_“The Family want a Time Lady, I’ll give them a Time Lady.”_

_Rose blinked. “You’re not... You’re not handin’ yourself in to them?”_

_The Doctor looked over then, brow furrowed in concern until she saw the fear on Rose’s face. “Oh, love, no. Just gonna trick them a little bit.” She waved the now-empty fob watch in Rose’s face. “This should buy me some time, and then we’ll give them an ultimatum.”_

_“How?”_

_“They wanted to live forever,” the Doctor shrugged, and suddenly her eyes were dark and bottomless. “So I’ll let them live forever.”_

_An hour later, Rose sat on the jumpseat in the TARDIS, watching as the Doctor trapped Daughter of Mine in every mirror, as she chained Father of Mine up in unbreakable chains, as Mother of Mine was deposited into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy, as Son of Mine was left to stand guard in a Farringham field as one of the scarecrows they’d animated and used to terrorise the villagers._ )

“Why did the TARDIS choose that story for us?” Rose asked eventually, stifling a yawn. “I mean, why sisters? Why not just best friends, or something?”

“She probably thought it would give us a reason for a certain level of intimacy,” the Doctor answered. “I think she thought she was doing you a favour.”

Rose snorted. “What, like when she decided we should be Rose and Rose Tyler?”

The Doctor grimaced at that. “Yeah, that was a bit of an oversight,” she admitted carefully. “I think she was trying to stick with the flower theme.”

“There’s stickin’ with the theme, an’ then there’s giving you my name in a different language,” Rose pointed out.

“It wasn’t me who chose it,” the Doctor reminded her indignantly. 

Rose snorted again, and craned her neck to press a kiss to the Doctor’s jaw. “Whatever you say, Doctor.”

They’d just turned their attention back to the telly when Rose spoke again. “One last thing,”

“Yeah?” the Doctor asked, eyes still on the telly.

“When are we gonna tell my mum about you thinkin’ you were her daughter?”


End file.
